International Journal of Advances in Applied Sciences (IJAAS)

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Classification of Biomaterials used in Medicine

1

Patitapabana Parida*, 2Ajit Behera*, 3Subash Chandra Mishra

1
University Dept. of Pharmaceutical Science,
Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India,
2, 3
Dept. of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering,
National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Odisha, India.
*Corresponding Author, email id: ajit.behera88@gmail.com

Article Info

ABSTRACT (10 PT)

Article history:

In this decade many researches are potentially going forward by using

biomaterials in the medical field. Biomaterials can used in living creature
body, taking in account of there biocompatibility. This paper describes about
classification of different biomaterials which are used in medical industries.
Advances in surgical technique and instruments have permitted materials to
be used in ways that were not possible previously. Bio-material can
partially/totally replaces one or more part of the body. Before using
biomaterials, it should in mind that, which categories they are belongs and
main focuses are on biocompatibility, bioinert, bioactive/surface reactive,
biodegradable, sterilizability, adequate mechanical and physical properties,
manufacturability, low weight, reasonable cost etc. It is necessary to classify
biomaterials for there suitable use in medical industries.

Received Jun 12th, 2012

Revised Aug 20th, 2012
Accepted Aug 26th, 2012
Keyword:
Biomaterials
medical use
Classification.
Biocompatibility

Copyright 2012 Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science.

All rights reserved.

Corresponding Author:
Ajit Behera,
Departement of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering,
National Institute of Technology,
Rourkela, Odisha, India.
Email: ajit.behera88@gmail.com

1. INTRODUCTION
The performance of materials in the body can be classified in many ways. Biomaterial is used to make
devices to replace a part or a function of the body in a safe, reliable, economic, and physiologically
acceptable manner [1]. A Variety of devices and materials presently used in the treatment of disease or injury
include such commonplace items as sutures, needles, catheters, plates, tooth fillings, etc [2-5]. Over the
years, a biomaterial can be simply defined as a synthetic material used to replace part of a living system or to
function in intimate contact with living tissue. The Clemson University Advisory Board for Biomaterials has
formally defined a biomaterial to be a systemically and pharmacologically inert substance designed for
implantation within or incorporation with living systems [6]. It is also defined as a nonviable material used
in a medical device, intended to interact with biological systems [7]. Other definitions have included
materials of synthetic as well as of natural origin in contact with tissue, blood, and biological fluids, and
intended for use for prosthetic, diagnostic, therapeutic, and storage applications without adversely affecting
the living organism and its components [8] and any substance (other than drugs) or combination of
substances, synthetic or natural in origin, which can be used for any period of time, as a whole or as a part of
a system which treats, augments, or replaces any tissue, organ, or function of the body [9]. By contrast, a
biological material is a material such as skin or artery, produced by a biological system. According to these
definitions one must possess knowledge in a number of different disciplines or collaborate with individuals
from a wide variety of different specialties in order to properly develop and use biomaterials in medicine and
provides some examples of the uses of biomaterials, which include replacement of a body part that has lost
function due to disease or trauma, to assist in healing, to improve performance, and to correct abnormalities.

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The role of biomaterials has been influenced considerably by advances in many areas of biotechnology and
science.
The use of biomaterials did not become practical until the advent of an aseptic surgical technique developed.
Earlier surgical procedures, whether biomaterials were generally unsuccessful as a result of infection occurs.
Problems of infection tend to be exacerbated in the presence of biomaterials, since the implant can provide a
region inaccessible to the bodys immunologically competent cells. The earliest successful implants, as well
as a large fraction of modern ones, were in the skeletal system. Bone plates were introduced in the early
1900s to aid in the fixation of long bone fractures [10]. Many of these early plates broke as a result of
unsophisticated mechanical design; they were too thin and had stress concentrating corners. Also, materials
such as vanadium steel, which was chosen for its good mechanical properties, corroded rapidly in the body
and caused adverse effects on the healing processes. Better designs and materials soon followed. Following
the introduction of stainless steels and cobalt chromium alloys in the 1930s, greater success was achieved in
fracture fixation, and the first joint replacement surgeries were performed [11]. As for polymers, it was found
that warplane pilots in World War II who were injured by fragments of plastic (polymethyl methacrylate)
aircraft canopy did not suffer adverse chronic reactions from the presence of the fragments in the body.
Polymethyl methacrylate became widely used after that time for corneal replacement and for replacements of
sections of damaged skull bones. Following further advances in materials and in surgical technique, blood
vessel replacements were tried in the 1950s and heart valve replacements and cemented joint replacements in
the 1960s. Recent years have seen many further advances [12-14].
2. APPLICATION & USES OF BIOMATERIALS
Table-1 describes about the use of biomaterials in different field of medical industries and Table-2 describes
use of biomaterials in different body parts and replacement of different parts for living creature. Table-3
indicates about the body system which applied biomaterials.
Table 1. Uses of Biomaterials
Problem Area
Examples
Replacement of diseased or damaged part Artificial hip joint, kidney dialysis machine
Assist in healing
Sutures, bone plates, and screws
Improve function
Cardiac pacemaker, intraocular lens
Correct functional abnormality
Cardiac pacemaker
Correct cosmetic problem
Augmentation mammoplasty
Aid to diagnosis
Probes and catheters
Aid to treatment
Catheters, drains
Organ
Heart
Lung
Eye
Ear
Bone
Kidney
Bladder

System
Skeletal
Muscular
Nervous
Endocrine
Reproductive

Table 2. Biomaterials in Organs

Examples
Cardiac pacemaker, artificial heart valve, total artificial heart,
blood vessels
Oxygenator machine
Contact lens, intraocular lens
Artificial stapes, cochlea implant
Bone plate, intramedullary rod
Catheters, stent, Kidney dialysis machine
Catheter and stent
Table 3. Biomaterials in Body Systems
Examples
Bone plate, total joint replacements
Sutures, muscle stimulator
Hydrocephalus drain, cardiac pacemaker, nerve stimulator
Microencapsulated pancreatic islet cells
Augmentation mammoplasty, other cosmetic replacements

Metallic Biomaterials
The first metal alloy developed specifically for human use was the vanadium steel which was used to
manufacture bone fracture plates (Sherman plates) and screws. Most metals such as iron (Fe), chromium
(Cr), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), titanium (Ti), tantalum (Ta), niobium (Nb), molybdenum (Mo), and tungsten
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(W) that were used to make alloys for manufacturing implants can only be tolerated by the body in minute
amounts. Sometimes those metallic elements, in naturally occurring forms, are essential in red blood cell
functions (Fe) or synthesis of a vitamin B-12 (Co), but cannot be tolerated in large amounts in the body [15].
The biocompatibility of the metallic implant is of considerable concern because these implants can corrode in
an in vivo environment [16]. The consequences of corrosion are the disintegration of the implant material per
se, which will weaken the implant, and the harmful effect of corrosion products on the surrounding tissues
and organs [17].
Ceramic Biomaterials
The most important properties like: (a) Should be non-toxic, (b) Should be non-carcinogenic, (c) Should be
non-allergic, (d) Should be non-inflammatory, (e) Should be biocompatible, (f) Should be biofunctional for
its lifetime in the host. Ceramics are generally hard; in fact, the measurement of hardness is calibrated against
ceramic materials & are focused on a general overview of the relatively bioinert, bioactive or surface reactive
ceramics, and biodegradable or resorbable bioceramics. Ceramics used in fabricating implants can be
classified as nonabsorbable (relatively inert), bioactive or surface reactive (semi-inert) [18], and
biodegradable or resorbable (non-inert) [19]. Alumina, zirconia, silicone nitrides, and carbons are inert
bioceramics. Certain glass ceramics and dense hydroxyapatites are semi-inert (bioreactive), and calcium
phosphates and calcium aluminates are resorbable ceramics [20].
Polymeric Biomaterials
Synthetic polymeric materials have been widely used in medical disposable supplies, prosthetic materials,
dental materials, implants, dressings, extracorporeal devices, encapsulants, polymeric drug delivery systems,
tissue engineered products, and orthodoses like those of metal and ceramics substituents. The main
advantages of the polymeric biomaterials compared to metal or ceramic materials are ease of
manufacturability to produce various shapes (latex, film, sheet, fibers, etc.), ease of secondary processability,
reasonable cost, and availability with desired mechanical and physical properties. The required properties of
polymeric biomaterials are similar to other biomaterials, that is, biocompatibility, sterilizability, adequate
mechanical and physical properties, and manufacturability [21].
Table 4. Biomedical Application of Polymeric Biomaterials
Synthetic Polymers
Applications
Polyvinylchloride
Blood and solution bag, surgical packaging, IV sets, dialysis
devices,catheter bottles, connectors, and cannulae
Polyethylene
Pharmaceutical bottle, nonwoven fabric, catheter, pouch, flexible
container, and orthopedic implants
Polypropylene
Disposable syringes, blood oxygenator membrane, suture,
nonwoven fabric, and artificial vascular grafts
Polymethylmetacrylate
Blood pump and reservoirs, membrane for blood dialyzer,
implantable ocular lens, and bone cement
Polystyrene
Tissue culture flasks, roller bottles, and filterwares
Polyethylenterephthalate
Implantable suture, mesh, artificial vascular grafts, and heart valve
Polytetrafluoroethylene
Catheter and artificial vascular grafts
Polyamide
Packaging film, catheters, sutures, and mold parts
Composite Biomaterials
The term composite is usually reserved for those materials in which the distinct phases are separated on a
scale larger than the atomic, and in which properties such as the elastic modulus are significantly altered in
comparison with those of a homogeneous material. Accordingly, reinforced plastics such as fiberglass as well
as natural materials such as bone are viewed as composite materials, but alloys such as brass are not. Foam is
a composite in which one phase is empty space. Natural composites include bone, wood, dentin, cartilage,
and skin. Natural foams include lung, cancellous bone, and wood. Natural composites often exhibit
hierarchical structures in which particulate, porous, and fibrous structural features are seen on different
micro-scales [22]. In biomaterials, it is important that each constituent of the composite be biocompatible.
Moreover, the interface between constituents should not be degraded by the body environment. Some
applications of composites in biomaterial applications are: (1) dental filling composites, (2) reinforced methyl
methacrylate bone cement and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, and (3) orthopedic implants with
porous surfaces. Moisture absorption by polymer constituents also causes swelling. Such swelling can be
beneficial in dental composites since it offsets some of the shrinkage due to polymerization. Flexible
composite bone plates are effective in promoting healing [23], but particulate debris from composite bone
Title of manuscript is short and clear, implies research results (First Author)

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plates gives rise to a foreign body reaction similar to that caused by ultra-highmolecular- weight polyethylene
[24].
Biodegradable Polymeric Biomaterials:
The term biodegradation is loosely associated with materials that could be broken down by nature either
through hydrolytic mechanisms without the help of enzymes and/or enzymatic mechanism. Other terms such
as absorbable, erodible , and resorbable have also been used in the literature to indicate biodegradation.
Interest in biodegradable polymeric biomaterials for biomedical engineering use has increased dramatically
during the past decade. This is because this class of biomaterials has two major advantages that nonbiodegradable biomaterials do not have. First, they do not elicit permanent chronic foreign-body reactions
due to the fact that they are gradually absorbed by the human body and do not permanently leave traces of
residual in the implantation sites. Second, some of them have recently been found to be able to regenerate
tissues, so-called tissue engineering, through the interaction of their biodegradation with immunologic cells
like macrophages. Hence, surgical implants made from biodegradable biomaterials could be used as a
temporary scaffold for tissue regeneration. This approach toward the reconstruction of injured, diseased, or
aged tissues is one of the most promising fields in the 21st century.
While aromatic polyesters are almost
totally resistant to microbial attack, most aliphatic polyesters are biodegradable due to their potentially
hydrolysable ester bonds:
Naturally
Produced: Polyhydroxyalkanoates
like
the poly-3hydroxybutyrate (PHB), polyhydroxyvalerate & polyhydroxyhexanoate; Renewable Resource: Polylactic
acid; Synthetic: Polybutylene succinate , polycaprolactone , Polyanhydrides, Polyvinyl alcohol, Most of
the starch derivatives, Cellulose esters like cellulose,
acetate and nitrocellulose and their derivatives
(celluloid) are recently used [25].
3.

CONCLUSIONS

Before using biomaterials, it should in mind that, which categories they are belongs so that there is no
negative effect in the body. Main focuses are on biocompatibility, bioinert, bioactive or surface reactive,
biodegradable, sterilizability, adequate mechanical and physical properties, manufacturability, low weight,
reasonable cost etc. Biomaterials classification should be necessary for there suitable use in medical
industries.
4.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF AUTHORS
Ajit Behera was born in 1987. He received the B.Tech and M.Tech degrees in 2009
and 2012 respectively from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India.
Currently he worked as PhD Scholar at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur,
India. He is working as a Reviewer/Editor in many international journals. He also
published several book on Materials Engineering.
Patitapabana Parida was doing his collaborated research work in University Dept. of
Pharmaceutical Science and National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. He published
many national/ international journals in different biomaterial subject.

Prof. S.C Mishra, One of the senior most professor in the Department of Metallurgical
and Material Enggineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. He has also
composed many book/ Book chapter in highly acclaimed book in scientific circles. In
addition to all the awards and recognition, The International Biographic Centre of
Cambridge, England has nominated the professor for the "Olympian Achiever" award.

Title of manuscript is short and clear, implies research results (First Author)